I am a huge fan of Ginger Ale - always have been. I hate soda in general, but to me, Ginger Ale has always been different. Soda is just a bunch of sugar or high fructose corn syrup and water with some flavoring, absolutely worthless. But hey, Ginger Ale has health benefits right? I mean, when I was little and my stomach hurt, what did my mom give me? Ginger Ale (and saltines) - and I would swear that it helped. Heck, I give those things to my own kids when their tummies are a little upset.

A while back I looked at the ingredients list of my old favorite Ginger Ale to see what kinds of healthy goodness were contained in that plastic bottle. Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup (what?!), Citric Acid, Natural Flavors (could that be the ginger??), Sodium Benzoate (a preservative) and Caramel Color (huh?!) Uuummm…correct me if I’m wrong, but that would be sugar, water and flavoring…that’s nothing but…but…SODA! I couldn’t believe it! Crushed, I started a search for a Ginger Ale with actual ginger in it. Something that I could actually drink. Thankfully, after a little searching, I found it.

Reed’s Premium Ginger Brew is exactly what I was looking for - and what I thought my old Ginger Ale was for all those years. No high fructose corn syrup or caramel color here! This great tasting product is made from nothing but Sparkling Filtered Water, Sweetened by a blend of Canadian White Clover Honey and Pineapple Juice from concentrate, Fresh Ginger Root (17grams per bottle!), Lemon and Lime juices from concentrate and Spices. Now this stuff might actually give you some health benefits!

According to the label, Reed’s Ginger Ale is 25% fruit juice, has no preservatives, and is caffeine & gluten free. They also state it has a “Strong Ginger Bite”, and that it does. To me, it has a wonderful “homebrewed” taste to it, and I would agree that there is definitely a strong ginger bite to it. But that’s what I love about it. Of course my wife and kids don’t particularly care for it, as the taste is too strong for them. But I think it’s just right - very “full bodied”, with a subtle bite as you drink it with a fairly heavy ginger after-taste. Perfect.

While I will admit that I don’t think it’s necessarily for everyone, I can’t recommend it enough if you like Ginger Ale - trust me, switch from your ginger soda, you’ll be happy you did. I would also definitely encourage anyone to try it the next time your stomach is feeling a bit off - believe it or not, it just might have you feeling better.